"Seamless Great Eagle — Invisible Giant."
An incantation like none he had ever heard.
Upon hearing it, Laplace tensed in an instant, ready for whatever might come.
After all, their current location lay within the domain created by his own Magic Inscription Liberation. Within that space alone, Laplace wielded power bordering on invincibility.
He harbored more than sufficient confidence in that regard.
And yet.
"The Sky Witch's unknown incantation." That phrase alone was enough to shatter whatever confidence someone of his caliber possessed into dust. That was precisely why Laplace held his guard without a single crack—
—and she mocked all of it with contemptuous ease.
Without warning, without the slightest prelude.
A violent, incomprehensible repulsive force engulfed the entirety of the Royal Capital's underground.
"—Gah—?!"
Its identity unknown. Its principle unknown.
But undeniably immense in magnitude.
And yet it was not indiscriminate. With pinpoint precision, it struck only the faces of Laplace's organization with unreasonable, crushing force.
The fact that Laplace noticed it at all was only because he was within his own domain of Magic Inscription Liberation. It was that difficult to detect—in other words, it was something perfectly *obvious* that nonetheless remained *utterly unidentifiable*.
The ones struck were—Laplace, Chrono, Yurugen, and Ortesia. The four of them.
When a force this massive was involved, even within his domain, deflecting everything was impossible. Some targets would have to be sacrificed. Even Laplace's superior intellect could only arrive at that conclusion.
"Damn it—!"
Decisions in an instant, action without delay.
Cursing under his breath, Laplace channeled his magic to resist the unknown force. He pushed his Bloodline Magic's Unique ability, "Rejection," to its absolute limit, countering the power bearing down upon them.
To repeat: handling everything was impossible. That was precisely why—
*(Me and—the Boss, at least, I will protect no matter what!)*
He was the master of this domain above all else, but there was one more. Chrono—the one still sustaining the fundamental magic that had created this current hell within the Royal Capital, the Sixth Creation Magic—had to be protected at all costs. If this collapsed, the foundation would crumble, and worse... who knew what backlash might erupt from the forcibly interrupted divine magic?
With that thought driving him, Laplace continued his magical resistance with every shred of his power, and finally—
"Not bad."
Witch Rose spoke, her tone carrying both defiance and genuine admiration.
"I aimed for this, and I predicted it would happen, so I can't claim surprise... but that magic just now was fired with full intent to kill every last one of you. You deflected it perfectly on your very first read. Won't be so easy next time, I imagine."
He had managed, just barely, to protect both himself and Chrono in line with his split-second judgment.
Receiving Rose's words, Laplace returned her gaze with a quiet glare.
"I'll take that as a compliment. So as a follow-up, would you mind dying quietly right here before you cause any more trouble? That would be a great help."
"Sorry, but that won't be happening. Playing with you sounds fun enough, but... if I did that, there'd be no point in coming back to the Royal Capital."
Rose answered in the manner befitting the legendary Witch she was—breezy and self-assured, operating entirely by her own standards.
"Don't worry, I won't interfere with you any further. To be honest, I more or less sympathize with what you're all trying to do."
Then, finally turning her gaze toward Chrono—
"If you keep it to *that* level—just *destroying* the Royal Capital—and *leave it at that*, I won't lay another finger on any of you. I'll focus entirely on beating the living daylights out of that insufferable stepsister of his, just as you've arranged."
Words laden with meaning.
...After leaving behind a final remark that could only come from someone who possessed magic of the same caliber and the same kind as Chrono's, Rose took flight in another direction.
"...Damn it."
Left behind, Laplace spat out another curse.
Right—Rose had just said it was "as aimed."
The unknown magic she had unleashed. Laplace had countered it and managed to protect himself and Chrono, but—
—the remaining two. Ortesia and Yurugen.
Unable to withstand Rose's magic, they had been flung apart in opposite directions.
Both were seasoned fighters in their own right. They hadn't died from something like that and had apparently protected themselves—but they had been separated from the group all the same.
Yurugen being knocked away was especially painful. As the other pillar supporting the Royal Capital's current catastrophic state, if he fell, this necromantic kingdom would collapse.
Furthermore, with only himself now left at Chrono's side—the highest-priority protection target—Laplace himself could no longer move from this location.
In conclusion, the situation was exactly as Rose had described: "Take Ortesia in exchange, but hand over Yurugen"—he had been maneuvered into precisely that arrangement.
Fully aware of this, Laplace—
"...Well, it can't be helped."
He let out a single sigh and spoke.
It stung. Being toyed with by the Sky Witch left him seething with frustration—but at the same time, while it was among the worse outcomes within his projections, it had not exceeded them.
Being allowed to rampage to some degree by the Sky Witch had been factored into the plan. And as Rose herself had stated—more importantly, because he believed she would not actively obstruct their goals to a significant degree.
That belief stemmed from Chrono's analysis of Rose's personality, and Yurugen's testimony had elevated it to a considerable degree of certainty.
And as predicted, Rose had not indiscriminately dismantled their objective—she had prioritized her own personal grudge above all else. She had taken the bait they had prepared in the form of Ortesia, cleanly and exactly as intended.
When viewed that way, it was not a bad result.
Which meant, to summarize, the situation was still even. An equal footing—both sides had achieved their aims.
The necromantic kingdom still stood. Chrono, one of its pillars, was under his personal guard here—fully secure.
Therefore... the focal point was the other pillar. Yurugen.
As long as he was not taken down, this hell would not end.
"...Then there's no problem."
Having reasoned through all of this, Laplace allowed himself a bold grin.
He felt as though he had considered something similar before—but Laplace did not trust Yurugen to that great an extent. What he *did* place absolute faith in was that man's hatred.
With Yurugen having been deliberately isolated and Rose heading for Ortesia... the "assassin" likely sent to Yurugen's location was fairly predictable.
"...Surely you won't go down to someone like *that*, will you, Trackia?"
His quiet smile returned.
Having reaffirmed that his task remained unchanged—to continue eliminating any threats directed at Chrono here—Laplace renewed his focus and poured his strength into the fulfillment of their dream.